I love this book, the text is simple and beautiful. The pictures follow two families on different continents plant a tree. It comes full circle in the end to show how their family grew as well as the tree. My students were enchanted by it.

A non-fiction book in story form, it tells the story of Wangari Maathai, the first African American woman and environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Kindergarten Reviews:

Sam: “Read this book because it teaches you not to take things for yourself and help the whole world.”

Nicholas: “I knew this was true because there were plants and no monsters. The guys that planted the coffee were bad because they just wanted the money for themselves, not the experience of the adventure.”

Simple, repetitive, with a nice beat for preschoolers. It is a guessing game book, so you can make extensions or tie it in with a plant unit easily. Great for early childhood to Kindergarten.l Lesson plans to go with it can be found online.

What a wonderful book to show children how bee-keeping works. Part counting book and part informational narrative, it is great to show children bees are not to be feared, but cared for. Lesson plans to go with it can be found in a google search.

One student said: “If you don’t like bees then you can see the experience of the bees. It helps you learn about them.”

Positively Timeless, it is perfect for young children to help them think about how they can help the world, and perfect for older elementary for the same reason. A good book to read out loud every Earth Day.

Sophie: “It teaches you about kindness and keeping the world beatiful instead of stony and ugly.”